Alpha: A Catapult to Christianity

By Tony Copple
Updapted from an article published in the
Kanata Kourier-Standard on
January 2, 1998.

I found myself at an Alpha Course introductory evening Sept 10, 1997. My friend Bob Horsey from Trinity Presbyterian in Kanata had gently mentioned Alpha to me a few times and I was curious. Not for myself, you understand, but as a member of my church council, I felt a responsibility to see if I should recommend it to people in my own church. So I went along.

It started with a meal in company with 30 or so friendly people, one or two of whom I knew slightly. After the meal we were invited to watch a video by Rev. Nicky Gumbel. At that point I was hiding some disappointment, although the food had been excellent; I'd expected him there personally, whoever he was. They turned on the TV and whoosh! I was captivated. This is solid mainstream teaching with no hype but plenty of truth from someone you can really respect and believe. It is firmly rooted in the basic principles of Christianity, presented in a contemporary and practical way, with regular slices of humour. Before ten minutes had passed I had decided to cancel all Wednesday night activity and devote that time to Alpha. After a few Wednesdays, Alpha became the high point of my week, and when it ended after ten I suffered withdrawal symptoms.

Sooner or later someone will invite you to attend an Alpha course. Wherever you are on your faith journey, it will move you several rungs up the ladder. Perhaps you are starting at ground level; Alpha is the perfect way in to Christianity. Make the time to go to an introductory Alpha supper, and you'll know for sure whether you should attend the 10 weeks (one evening a week plus a short weekend). Alpha is attended by pastors, members of congregations, new Christians, agnostics, and most importantly, people wondering about whether Christianity is for them. One of its strengths is in this variety of attenders. There are no questions you can't ask at Alpha. There are now more than 7,000 Alpha courses running regularly in UK, and it has spread worldwide, including Russia and China, to more than twice that number. There are more than 1,000 courses running in Canada, and 70 around the Ottawa area.

It is endorsed by church leaders from all mainline denominations, growing particularly fast in the Roman Catholic church. Alpha is running in 121 of the 158 prisons in UK. It is used in increasing numbers of North American prisons, and hardened criminals are finding Jesus. In early 2001 David Frost will present the Alpha course on TV in UK, following the progress of a course at Holy Trinity Brompton (where Alpha began) which ran in the summer of 2000.

This is a movement that not only wins souls for Christ, but gives Christians a powerful tool for evangelism. My course opened my eyes to the possibilities and cemented Jesus in my heart to encourage me to participate in the Alpha movement. After helping on Bob’s next course at Trinity, I imported Alpha to my own church, Glen Cairn United Church, and have co-led several Alpha courses there. I recently gave a course in Kilian Residence, a Kanata retirement home. Bob and Pat Horsey and my wife Laurie-Ann were co-leaders, and we enjoyed eating with the residents before some of them joined us for hymn singing and Nicky Gumbel’s talk. Laurie-Ann and I met Nicky in UK in May 2000 at Holy Trinity Brompton, and heard him preach live, in just the way he does on the Alpha tapes: compellingly sincere with logic and authority. Billy Graham invited him to lead a workshop at the July 2000 international conference of 10,000 evangelists in Amsterdam. The combination of down-to-earth truth and love generated by Christ so strongly within his heart is unstoppable, and this in borne out by the fact that Alpha is one of today’s most powerful vehicles for evangelism using a formula that multiplies the numbers of courses every time around.

Can you afford not to attend Alpha at a nearby church this fall? Invite some pre-Christian friends. Alpha will undoubtedly change your life and theirs. You may think your churchgoing career has taught you all you can know about Our Lord, but is he really living powerfully in your heart where he longs to be?